Wow. I thought this was one of the best this season. I guess I was not prepared for ending the nukes story in mid season. Now it looks like we have a whole new plot. I figured Audrey was alive, but now it looks like it's done with the terrorist and back to the Chinese. I loved the preview for next week..."With all due respect Mr. President, you owe me one". I have to admit I just started watching 24 two years ago, so I don't see all the criticism of the show to be warranted. Maybe it's still cool for me. Of course some of it is hard to believe, but come on, when you are working on a 1 day=a season schedule you have to stretch a little:rolleyes: . If not, the alternative is someone gets caught in traffic(especially after a nuke went off in your town) and they are out for 3 episodes. So for me 24 still rocks!!!:eek:

JasonEvans

04-10-2007, 12:00 AM

I applaud the writers for actually resolving something. This felt like a good week because we moved the story along in some meaningful ways. That is a satisfying thing to the audience. Still, they sorta screwed it up by rushing things along. They should have dragged things out a bit more and had the fake attack on Jack be the cliffhanger. Either that or Jack being on the undercarriage of the truck could have been the final scene. We went waaay too quickly this week... though that did make it satisfying for the audience.

I like the idea of moving on to different storylines with different villians and the such. I've mentioned to friends in the past that one of the failings of 24 was dragging out the same plot through 24 episodes meant you had to go no where a lot. By having essentially 2 completely separate storylines this season we get some resolution and then get something new. It is a nice idea. Props to them for thinking a little bit outside the box in an effort to save a slowly dying show.

Still, as usual, the execution was ham-handed. If the Chinese guys had called just a minute or two earlier, then they would have given Jack's position away instead of catching him just before he took his first bathroom break or nap in more than a day. Maybe Jack just had his phone on vibrate and then switched it to ringer as soon as Fayed was dead. Oh well, I don't think anyone really cares about the plot holes seeing as there are a million from this season that will now never get resolved. I am still dying to know what Gredenko was thinking last episode or how Jack's father was involved in this thing and why he gave Jack the ex-President's phone number only moments after thinking his best course of action was to kill Jack and everyone else in his family. The holes in the storytelling are big enough that a nuclear explosion could not widen them at all.

I wonder if we will see a big dropoff in 24's audience after tonight's episode. The show has clearly given viewers an out. We are starting a new storyline and I cannot fathom how anyone would feel very connected to it unless you thougth Jack and Audrey had some real chemistry and want to see their relationship saved (lucky thing that bank robbery TV show sucked so Audrey could come back, eh?). So, if you want to ditch the show, now if the moment to do it.

As for me, I am at a real crossroad. MY wife is discgusted and wants to be done with 24. If Heroes was back on next week, I'd be sorely tempted to give in to her and give up on Jack and CTU. But, Heroes is still 2 weeks away (want a spoiler? Roddy McDowell has the power to heal-- not to heal himself like Claire. He can heal others... and even bring them back from the dead, I think.) So, with no Heroes to take up my time, I may still give 24 a chance next week. Sigh... I need some 12 step program to give up on this !#^@&@!^

-Jason "for the love of !#&#37;!^, please plot out this storyline better than all the others over the past 120 or so episodes!!" Evans

DevilAlumna

04-10-2007, 01:26 AM

Thanks for putting "Spoilers" in the heading! I'm out here in the "specific" time zone (name that TV reference), and almost clicked on your thread before watching the DVRd show.

This is my first '24' season, so I'm a bit confused -- anyone care to give a quick briefing on Audry & the Chinese? (And/or include a link to a good summary site?)

snowdenscold

04-10-2007, 05:44 AM

By having essentially 2 completely separate storylines this season we get some resolution and then get something new. It is a nice idea. Props to them for thinking a little bit outside the box in an effort to save a slowly dying show.

Isn't this what they did with season 1? (my favorite, btw - though everyone's first season watched seems to be their favorite). I thought it worked very well.

Ahhh, back in the good old days when things were at least sorta-kinda-maybe plausible.

Tom B.

04-10-2007, 12:44 PM

This is my first '24' season, so I'm a bit confused -- anyone care to give a quick briefing on Audry & the Chinese? (And/or include a link to a good summary site?)

I've lost track of all the entangling subplots over the years, but if I recall correctly, it's something like this.... a couple of seasons ago, Jack raided the Chinese consulate in L.A. to nab a bad guy. During the raid, some Chinese consular officer was killed (by friendly fire, as it turned out), and the Chinese were pissed. I think that the Chinese figured out Jack was involved because a security camera caught a shot of his face, or something like that. Anyway, that subplot went unresolved, as the season ended with Jack faking his death and then going into hiding.

Flash forward to last season. There's a new terrorist threat, so Jack comes out of hiding (which turned out to be all of, like, 40 whole miles from L.A.) and resumes his bad guy-hunting ways. After 23.9 episodes, Jack manages to neutralize the terrorist threat. At the very end of the last episode, Jack is grabbed by the still-pissed Chinese (apparently they figured out he wasn't dead), and the last we see of Jack, he's a captive on a ship on the way to China.

At the beginning of this season, we learn that the President negotiated some kind of deal for Jack's release, so now he's back in the U.S. Several episodes ago, Jack found out that Audrey was dead and (if I recall correctly) that she died in a car accident in China. Apparently, she had gone to China in an attempt to find Jack.

That brings us up to the end of last night's episode -- looks like Audrey wasn't really dead at all, but was in the custody of the Chinese. No doubt they'll now want him to do something unspeakably awful in exchange for not killing her.

JasonEvans

04-10-2007, 01:10 PM

What Jack should do--

Chinese bad guy calls Jack and says, "we want you to do xxxxxx or we will kill Audrey."

Jack says: "No. You tortured me for a year. You got some good intel out of me. I will not give you anything else. Here is how it works. You have 2 choices-- either you set Audrey free or you die. I am the biggest badass in the world. I will hunt you down and torture you so that you die ove the course of 10 brutal days. I will remove your digits from you hands and feet. I will cut out your tounge and remove your eyes with a fork and starve you until you are so hungry you will eat your eyeballs for dinner. And before you die, you will hear the sounds of your wife and children screaming in terror as I do the exact same thing to them. I am not some random person making this threat. I AM JACK BAUER and I will !#^@$&^ you up!!!"

Long pause...

Jack continues: "Oh, and by the way, I recorded the beginning of our conversation and I will be sending that recording to the President. I am sure the US government will be interested in hearing how China has kidnapped the daughter of the former Secretary of State and is holding her captive in an effort to use a US CTU agent to help in a plot against America. The diplomatic fallout from what you have done tonight will be profound. Release Audrey right now or you die, your families dies, and China is screwed."

Yeah, it would wrap up the season quickly, but it would be pretty darn satisfying.

-Jason "I hate 24!!!" Evans

edensquad

04-11-2007, 12:03 AM

How did the Chinese guy have Jack's cell phone number, lol?!!? Even if Audrey remembered his old one, after his time being tortured by the Chinese... what are the odds of Jack getting his old number after 2 years?? (Wasn't that how long he was held?)...

Clipsfan

04-11-2007, 02:39 AM

How did the Chinese guy have Jack's cell phone number, lol?!!? Even if Audrey remembered his old one, after his time being tortured by the Chinese... what are the odds of Jack getting his old number after 2 years?? (Wasn't that how long he was held?)...

The phone call was connected through CTU, so they didn't call Jack directly.

JasonEvans

04-11-2007, 09:24 AM

The phone call was connected through CTU, so they didn't call Jack directly.

Chloe: "Hello, CTU computer ops. How can I help you?"

Chinese bad guy: "Yes, I'd like to speak to Jack Bauer, please."

Chloe: "Ummm, he's busy right now. He's... (she looks at her screen)... he's shooting at some terrorrists right now. Can you hold?"

Chinese bad guy: "Sure."

(one minute later)

Chloe: "Are you still there?"

Chinese bad guy: "Yes, is Jack available yet."

Chloe: "I'm sorry, he's strangling Fayed right now. He should be with you in less than a minute."

Chloe: "I'll connect you with Jack now. Oh, can I ask who is calling?"

Chinese bad guy: "Oh... uhhhh... I'm a friend. I heard he was not dead and had come back to town and I just want to see if he wants to get a drink after work."

-Jason "that 24, it is just so realistic" Evans

AtlBluRew

04-11-2007, 01:12 PM

I'm so glad that I haven't watched for the last 2 weeks.

johnb

04-11-2007, 01:19 PM

How many minutes until we find out that the Chinese Guy and Audrey are not only in Los Angeles but in a former WalMart storage facility that is directly underneath CTU and which now houses former cast members who are waiting to escape their feigned deaths

and that the Chinese guy is not actually a Chinese Guy but Gredenko with a mask borrowed from the Mission Impossible set

and that 24 is actually written by junior high students using Mad Libs: Terrorists from (name of someplace or no name of no place) whose Middle Eastern backgrounds are leavened by the inclusion of evil men and women from (other Middle Eastern countries, Russians, Americans, and more Middle Eastern countries) have a (WMD of some sort) that requires (number between 11 and 132) people in order for the mousetrap-like device to be (detonated/exploded, etc) during which time President ( Palmer, Palmer, etc) and Vice President (Name) interact with each using (illegal, murderous, petty, bluffing) interpersonal skills, (number betwen 32 and 123) loved ones are (threatened, kidnapped, tortured, maimed, shot, blown up, etc) and in which Jack Bauer kills or has killed (4-235) of his (friends, loved ones, enemies, siblings, relatives), travels throughout Los Angeles in (3-12) minutes, breaks (311-1254) laws, suffers (gut-wrenching, indescribable, searing, suffocating, etc) physical pain, eats (0) meals, drinks (0) liquids, gets (0 hours) of sleep, and recovers from injuries in (5-11) minutes.

OZZIE4DUKE

04-11-2007, 10:31 PM

and that 24 is actually written by junior high students using Mad Libs: Terrorists from (name of someplace or no name of no place) whose Middle Eastern backgrounds are leavened by the inclusion of evil men and women from (other Middle Eastern countries, Russians, Americans, and more Middle Eastern countries) have a (WMD of some sort) that requires (number between 11 and 132) people in order for the mousetrap-like device to be (detonated/exploded, etc) during which time President ( Palmer, Palmer, etc) and Vice President (Name) interact with each using (illegal, murderous, petty, bluffing) interpersonal skills, (number betwen 32 and 123) loved ones are (threatened, kidnapped, tortured, maimed, shot, blown up, etc) and in which Jack Bauer kills or has killed (4-235) of his (friends, loved ones, enemies, siblings, relatives), travels throughout Los Angeles in (3-12) minutes, breaks (311-1254) laws, suffers (gut-wrenching, indescribable, searing, suffocating, etc) physical pain, eats (0) meals, drinks (0) liquids, gets (0 hours) of sleep, and recovers from injuries in (5-11) minutes.